Transporting Loco

My Polly loco is almost complete.

I've now got to give some though about transporting it to the club site. I've made a scissor lift to get the height right for loading into the back of my car, then I'd thought of a board with angle iron rails to actually get it in. But what about securing the loco. A strap over the top might cause more damage than it would prevent. I'd wondered about a couple of bars through the wheels bolted down to the board.

With the present situation there is no activity at the club track so I can't see what other members do.

So what do other people do

First consider what the restraints have to do. Depending on the loco's proportions and the car's layout, miniature locomotives are often carried fore-and-aft. So the restraints stop the locomotive jumping as the vehicle goes over bumps; they hold it steady against lateral forces; and prevent it running or sliding lengthways. The last probably gives the largest loads on the restraints.

Each case is unique but common practice uses a stout base-board or frame with a pair of rails, to which the locomotive can be clipped or strapped down, with the whole lot itself restrained within the car.

You might, depending on the circumstances of use, also want to disguise the locomotive when it is in the car, for security. Some old blankets or the like are better than nothing, and I sometimes disguise the load as a heap of old plastic sheets, overalls and fertiliser bags!

My loco - a 7-1/4 " g version of the LBSC-design Juliet - is on square tube rails an open-framed steel trolley with large castors.

Anchoring the loco to the trolley are 4 hooked tensioners (a B&Q item), one on each corner. On each, one hook engages an eye on the trolley frame beyond the loco chassis; the other is hooked to a hole though the frame's lower corner. I forget if these holes were already there thanks to modifications, or if I drilled them specially. The tensioners can then be hand-tightened to secure the lot.

The important point is that the belays on the chassis are as far fore and aft, and outboard, of the loco as possible, to give low-angle tensions to prevent the loco from moving backwards and forwards, and sideways.

The trolley is secured to suitable points in the car - helped by that being a wheelchair-modified Renault Kangoo.

This assemblage managed the 120 miles from home to Warwickshire, and back, without trouble.

'

In the loco's earlier career as a club portable-track work-horse, it was held down to a trailer floor or other suitable base, by two hardwood beams with semi-circular notches that engaged the buffer bodies; and each beam held in turn by a long central screw with a handwheel head, engaging a suitable bush on the base.

.

Our club's Wren and petrol-hydraulic (both 7.25 " gauge) travel on rails bolted to a trailer floor but you could adapt the ideas for use in a car. The front coupling is shackled to an anchor on the trailer headboard, and the loco held down by ratchet straps with lots of padding between it and the locomotive. More padding around the engine gives more support and protection from anything rattling around them.

Many years ago we owned a 5" g. Maid of Kent. I think the tender was usually carried padded, on a spare seat in the car but the locomotive itself had its own box. This was wood, of inverted form, so the lid was the roof and vertical panels combined; with appropriate carrying-handles and sufficiently strong hold-downs to take the loco's weight. I forget how the engine was secured to the floor of the box, but it would have been by simple, padded straps or clamps of some sort.

I made up a timber base from a length of pine shelving with 1" square timber 'rails' fixed to it, then scalloped recesses in the rails to match the loco wheel locations. That pretty much limits the 'fore and aft' movement but it can still jump out of the recesses under heavy braking. The base has strips of old carpet glued to the underside which stops it sliding around when sitting in the rear of my Subaru wagon. I usually then sandwich the loco between two toolboxes, which also have carpet glued to the underside, with old blankets providing padding around the loco. So far this has survived about a dozen trips to my club track which is about a 90km round trip on a mix of suburban streets, open highway, and secondary country roads. I am a cautious driver though, so others might not be so lucky.

Killed by a bag of sixpences

Do restrain your model/toy securely, such that it would be safe in the event of an abrupt stop. The above (underlined) reflected an accident back in the 1960s.

A one arm bandit ‘engineer’ was killed when a bag of coins broke his neck after leaving the road at a couple of sharp bends and was stopped abruptly by a ditch bank. His collected money (may even have been collected from juke boxes) was in a bag, loose in the rear of his vehicle - until he crashed.

I enlightened a friend - he carried a comprehensive first-aid kit loose in the rear window of his car (because it was immediately available) - of the danger and he soon moved it to a safer spot.🙂

These were both before head rests were invented.

Edited By not done it yet on 03/01/2021 12:10:34

My Simplex sits on a frame made from 1" angle, 5" gauge for the wheels and full-length, full width outriggers for stability. The loco is secured down by square bars shaped to fit over the buffers. Wing-nuts hold this bar down. Handles are pivoted from the ends of the frame. A plywood box covers the loco.

Works well.

Thanks for the advice.

Thinking about the problem I will cut a piece of plywood to be a fairly good fit on the boot floor so that it can't move sideways or fore and aft. Then screw some angle iron to make rails for the loco to sit on and some sort of bars like Clive mentions over the buffer beams clamped down to the ply.

I'll give this a try first and see how it feels then modify as necessary.

I agree with 'not done it yet' it does need to be restrained. I may drive carefully but there are some idiots about.